First Nations Sustainability

In this lesson, First Nations educators will share how natural resources are sourced, selected and used for food, medicine, tools and weapons. 

Students will also have a unique opportunity to learn about First Nations ways of interacting with the environment using sustainable management practices that are thousands of years old.

• Investigate a range of native plants and the different uses, leading to a growing appreciation of sustainability within First Nations practices.
• Examine how First Nations practices support the sustainable use of environments and materials.
• Investigate native plants within the Garden through a discovery walk and learn how these are used by First Nations people.
• Identify how the properties of plant materials determine their selection for the purpose of manufacturing into tools and items that support the continuation of First Nations people and culture.

• Investigate the properties of natural materials and determine their possible uses.
• Collect and represent data to describe features of natural materials and how these materials are used by First Nations people.
• Learn that there are different ways of interacting with the environment and how this can influence sustainability.

Focus Syllabus Outcomes

Science and Technology 

Material World 

• Explains how the properties of materials determines their use for a range of purposes (ST3-7MW-T)

Living World

• Explains how food and fibre are produced sustainably in managed environments for health and nutrition (ST3-5LW-T) 

Geography 

Factors That Shape Places 

• Explains interactions and connections between people, places and environments (GE3-2)